The stated
purpose of the Bill is to streamline the resource consent
regime and improve the Resource Management Act’s
workability.

The Law Society presented its submission on
the bill to the Local Government and Environment Select
Committee yesterday.

“The Law Society is aware of
concern within some sectors of the community that resource
consent processes in particular take too long and are too
expensive,” Law Society Environmental Law Committee
convenor Margo Perpick says.

In its submission the Law
Society recommends amendments to the Bill that would help to
streamline the resource consent process “in the sense of
making the resource consent process faster and more
efficient, while improving – or at least not sacrificing
– decision-making quality”.

The Law Society is
concerned the bill’s proposed timeframes may reduce the
quality of information presented to Hearings Panels.

“If the proposed timeframes are adhered to strictly
then Consent Hearings Committees are likely to be faced with
reports and evidence from parties that are quite
unsatisfactory in terms of accuracy and quality,” Ms
Perpick says.

At present the bill proposes to extend the
time limit for notification from 10 to 20 working days while
reducing the time limit within which a hearing on a
non-notified application must commence, from 25 working days
following the closing date for submissions to 35 working
days after the date of the application was first lodged with
the consent authority.

“This will shorten the length of
time affected parties have to prepare evidence and presents
a considerable risk that decisions will be made incorrectly,
leaving the parties to resort to the appeal process to
correct such decisions with the presentation of accurate and
good quality evidence,” Ms Perpick says.

“This would
not be consistent with the aim of the bill to improve the
quality of local decision-making.”

The Law Society is
also concerned that the new appeal processes in the bill
could impact on the right to a fair hearing.

“The
structure of the new appeal process is a significant
departure from the current way in which appeal rights in
relation to resource management issues are dealt with,” Ms
Perpick says.

The provisions in the bill will remove the
full right of appeal to the Environment Court for a
submitter on a Hearings Panel decision, while the Council is
given the ability to reject the Panel’s recommendations,
even though it would not have heard the evidence presented
to the Panel, the Law Society submission says.

“This
would generally be considered to be a serious breach of the
rules of natural justice,” Ms Perpick
says.

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